


help

by the_forgotten_daydreamer



Series: Voltron: Legendary Defender [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blood and Injury, Broken Bones, Bullying, Concussed Lance, Concussions, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Homophobia, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Injured Lance (Voltron), Injury, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Foster Siblings, Keith has a broken arm, Keith thinks Lance is cute, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Speaks Spanish, Lance (Voltron) Whump, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance Gets a Concussion, Lance has a concussion, Lance is bullied because he's Bi, Langst, M/M, Major Character Injury, Minor Injuries, Shiro is a good brother and person in general, Vomiting, but Lance is so out of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 18:30:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21432769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_forgotten_daydreamer/pseuds/the_forgotten_daydreamer
Summary: Shiro is in the ER with Keith, who broke his arm falling from his motorcycle. Suddenly, a very distraught and injured Lance stumbles in, alone and clearly out of it. The two brothers decide to help him out until his friends arrive, but it's not that easy to take care of an inconsolable, delirious stranger.
Relationships: Hinted, Hunk & Lance (Voltron), Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, hinted klance
Series: Voltron: Legendary Defender [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680511
Comments: 47
Kudos: 440





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ahh, sh*t, here we go again... Langst is back, only one week after I finished my last fic ("discrepancy", please check that out!).  
This work will have 2 chapters, so it'll be shorter than my other stuff. Buckle up!  
-  
I do not own VLD nor these characters  
-  
Also, every major character is 19 years old, except for Shiro, who is 25!

That wasn't exactly how Shiro had planned to spend his night off, but when his younger brother Keith had hurt himself falling from his bike as he skidded on the ice and came back home cradling his limp arm, bloodied and bent- the man had promptly taken the teen to the ER.

The snow and ice on the roads didn't make it easy, but luckily the two didn't live too far from that building.

Still, it was just a small clinic in the outskirts, not meant to treat major traumas, thus the staff was limited to a few nurses and doctors and only one radiologist, who had taken the night off too.

As soon as the brothers had stepped in, the eldest had informed the nurse at the frontdesk about the situation, and they had been told to wait- not specifying for how long- for a radiologist to be sent from a nearby hospital.

Keith was looking green after the ride, as his vision swam for the pain and his stomach twisted. He'd already vomited on Shiro as soon as he'd got back home, and didn't want to repeat that accident.

_Not in front of strangers._

It was already midnight, and Keith was slowly and utterly starting to collapse, due to general fatigue and pain. 

Shiro and Keith cursed their luck: the roads were icy and slippery, rains and snow heavy at intervals, fog making moving hard; there was no way that the radiologist would have been there before the early morning.

The few nurses who were present were too busy tending to the patients already recovered to check on the new ones too, apparently, so the first one who had a few minutes free barely took time to look at Keith's arm, declaring that it was definitely broken- '_ no duh' _Shiro had thought, looking at his brother's clearly bent ulnar and radius. The nurse roughly splinted the limb- and Keith did his best not to cry out in pain, but the dude was just so violent in his movements that the poor boy couldn't help whimpering and inhaling sharply.

Almost two hours had passed after their arrival, but nobody else had come for Keith yet. And he was so, oh so tired.

Shiro sighed, looking at his brother, who seemed in pain but keeping it together.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" 

"I'm fine, 's just a sprain" Keith muttered, holding his injured arm, which rested on his lap limply, the splint already off.

_ "Don't take it off, Keith!" _

_ "I didn't, Shiro, it was so badly done that it undid itself!" Keith had yelled, rolling his eyes. _

Shiro sighed, "A sprain would allow you to at least move the arm, and you heard the nurse," the man muttered, "it's definitely broken".

They were both just glad that there was no bone protruding out Keith's pale skin, even if the odd angle that the arm had was clearly a bad sign. When Shiro saw the blood at first, he paled instantly, fearing the worst, but luckily the crimson liquid came from scrapes and bruises and the bone had stayed inside its socket, sort of.

"You can lay down if you want, kiddo. You literally have the whole waiting room for yourself" Shiro said, alluding to the fact that the two were the only ones in the waiting room of the ER.

_ Who would even go out in this weather..?_

Keith scoffed, "I'm not dizzy anymore, don't worry" he finished with a half smile, blushing, "s-sorry I vomited on you earlier-"

"Hey, it's fine, I would feel sick too if my arm bent that way" the man replied with a soft grin.

Despite being only six years younger than Shiro, Keith liked that he treated him so kindly and delicately. 

He was thankful, despite all, to have been assigned to the Shirogane's- almost ten years prior- and not to the previous families he'd been with in his days in foster care.

The man smiled, "Alright then," he sighed, "can you feel it?"

"Mh?"

"The arm. Can you feel it?".

Keith seemed to concentrate hard, trying to sought to it himself. His long fingers twitched, nerves below the palm moving visibly.

"Yeah, but only barely".

Shiro sighed and nodded.

"Hey, uhm, Shiro? Could we get something to eat or drink? I'm starving and I haven't even had dinner..."

"What if you have to undergo surgery, though? You can't eat nor drink before the anesthesia" the man smiled, sympathetically.

"Oh… But if they do operate me, they'll do it in the morning, right? Please, Shiro!".

The eldest nodded with a loud sigh, and got up from the uncomfortable plastic chair, "Okay, fine, but you're just gonna have a few sips of water and a bite of something easy on your stomach then"

"Whatever you say, captain" Keith muttered, rolling his eyes.

As Shiro left with an amused huff, the teen leaned further into the seat, wincing as his arm painfully throbbed, sending waves of pain from the fingers to his now stiff neck.

Lost in his thoughts, Keith was startled by the hiss of the sliding entrance doors.

He peeked, hoping for the radiologist to step in and finally help him, but instead a guy who looked nothing like a doctor wobbled through the doors, knees shaking visibly even from a distance, as he swayed toward the front desk.

His skin was caramel, only slightly lighter than his chocolate messy hair; he was wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, its hems of a bright blue.

_ Dude, way to pull off a summer look in february _… 

Keith sighed, and leaned back in the chair.

Just then, Shiro came back, with some packages in his hands.

"Here," he said gently, handing his brother a water bottle, cap already unscrewed, and sitting down, "small sips, remember. I also bought a sandwich, you can have the salad"

"Ugh, I don't even like it-"

"It's either that or nothing, sorry".

Keith scoffed, and bit into the leaf, making a grossed out noise in complaint, "It tastes like wet cardboard! Shiro, I can't eat this!"

"Buckle up, kiddo," the man smirked, "wait until you get into the academy and be forced to eat the canteen food, then we'll talk".

The boy rolled his eyes and kept eating, disgusted, and looked back at the stranger from before.

He was explaining- or trying to do so- something to the nurse, who didn't seem very lured to help.

The guy was shaking visibly, and Keith was wondering if he was actually alright. 

He shook his head, _ why the hell would he be in a hospital if he was fine? _

After a couple of minutes of quietly bickering with the nurse- minutes that Shiro spent eyeing the stranger and slowly eating the remainder of the sandwich- the boy was handed a clipboard with forms and a pen on it.

He stumbled toward the chairs, as the two brothers watched him silently.

The guy all but flopped face first on the seats with a muffled groan, laying down as the hand holding the clipboard flopped heavily.

He then quickly rolled over and sat up, putting the clipboard on his knees, shivering violently as is teeth clattered loudly, making the two brothers cringe.

Keith eyed Shiro questioningly, and whispered, "Is he okay..?".

Shiro shrugged, "I don't kn-" but was cut off by the guy groaning again, a pained whimper escaping his lips.

He shakily brought his arm up and dried the pearls of sweat on his forehead, whimpering at the effort.

Keith's heart skipped a beat, feeling slightly guilty because- in all honesty- that guy seemed _ really pretty, _ even if blatantly out of it.

The guy's gaze seemed unfocused, as he squinted to look at the words on the forms, blinking sheepishly every now and then.

Shiro and Keith took pity in him as they witnessed the boy poorly attempting to grab the pen, attached to the clipboard with a black string.

The eldest cleared his throat, "Hey, huh, do you need help?".

The miserable boy shook his head, wincing loudly as he did that, "N-no, 'm fine, th'nks…" he replied, still trying to unscrew the pen cap.

He had tears in his eyes, and his soft distraught wailing was barely audible, but it was there. He was crying. 

Keith shook his head, blushing slightly at the sight, _ fuck, keep it on your pants, the guy's dying. _

"Shiro, he's crying" he noted, a tad panicked.

The man nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat, "Buddy, what's your name..?".

But he didn't even lift his head, not acknowledging the question.

"Hey, buddy, can you hear me alright?".

At that, the hurt teen raised his eyes, not changing position, and whimpering, "Wha'?"

"Your name. What's your name?" Shiro tried again, tone soft yet firm.

"M' name… 's L-Lance" he said with a shaky smile, returning his attention to the forms.

"I'm Shiro, and this is my younger brother Keith," he replied, even though he hadn't really been asked, "are you feeling okay? You seem-" _ miserable " _tired".

The guy- Lance- blinked sheepishly, "Me?"

"Yeah, man. Are you are alright?" Keith cut in.

The boy smiled, looking sincerely surprised though never facing them, "Ah, 'm okay, I… I…" he looked around, "Wh're are we?".

_ Great... _

"We're at the hospital" Keith muttered.

The stranger simply hummed, absentmindedly.

"Ah. 'kay..," Lance nodded, "I- I dunno how I…" he gestured vaguely to his head, "d't remember…".

"Your head?"

Lance slowly raised his head and hummed.

"What's wrong with your he- oh. Shit...".

Thick, fresh blood was dripping from the guy's head and down his neck, staining his shirt.

It hadn't been visible until now, because Lance hadn't faced them frontally yet, but as he had lifted his head, drops of crimson blood oozing from the guy's temple had started to drip on his face and neck.

"Hey, huh, Lance," Keith called, voice laced in worry, "did… Did you drive your way here?".

Lance just stayed there, eyes fluttering close more frequently by the second, "No… I… The bus was..," he groaned.

The teen grabbed his head, hissing, as his wailing got a bit louder, "it… It really hurts…".

Lance had come there by bus. 

He had dared to take a bus in the middle of an freezing night, bleeding, visibly disoriented.

"I can imagine," the eldest replied despite the shock- Keith's mouth still gaping, "let me help fill those in" he said, taking the clipboard and sitting beside Lance.

"So, Lance, right?"

"Mhm"

"And the last name?"

"...McCl-," he swallowed as a wave of nausea washed over him, gagging.

"Woah! You okay?" Keith frantically asked from his seat, eyes wide.

"It's… 's McClain," he whispered, "and you..?" he asked, pale and shaky, looking at Keith.

"I'm… I'm Keith, again, nice to meet you" the other replied, confused but understanding.

In the meantime, Shiro had started filling in the forms for the boy, listing all the evident symptoms.

"Wha'cha here fo'?".

Keith winced mentally at Lance's slurred speech, which hadn't been that bad when he had arrived, "I fell and hurt my arm".

"S'rry 'bout that," the other sighed loudly "must hurt..!"

"Yeah, but it's not that bad- talking about you, what did you do?" Keith inquired, cradling his own throbbing arm.

"Mh, dunno…" he answered, taking his face in his hands, "d't feel good…"

"What hurts?"

"M' head a-and m' stomach and… Ev'rything..." Lance whispered, clutching at his side weakly.

Shiro slowly patted his back, "Lance," he called softly, "do you feel nauseous too?".

The guy nodded, and Shiro ticked another symptom on the list.

_ Bleeding, slurred speech, disorientation, uneven pupils, stomachache, nausea… This is not good _.

"Do you have a phone?" Keith asked.

Lance shook his head.

"Your wallet?"

"No... 's why th' nurse won't..." he gestured to the form, taking his head in those trembling hands again.

"Oh, I understand...".

Lance didn't have documents with him. He couldn't prove his identity nor provide a method of payment.

Shiro took out his own phone, "Wait, I have an idea".

He looked up 'Lance McClain' on Instagram, instantly and easily finding his public profile, as Keith peeked.

He started scrolling through the photos, in many of which the same two people appeared.

Shiro held the device up before Lance.

"Pidge… Hunk… My buddies" he whispered with a soft, drunk-like smile, "y' know 'em too?".

"I'm about to meet them" he said smiling and furiously started typing.

Lance nodded, growing paler and paler by the instant.

"Pl'se 'xcuse me…" he muttered standing up rapidly.

The other two stared at Lance and, well, the sight was not pretty at all: under his spent eyes, dark circles stood vividly against the now white skin- almost as pale as Keith's natural color- any tan momentarily gone. The blood had not stopped dripping, of course, but even if the flow was steady but slow, the crimson liquid kept falling down, in violent contrast with Lance's skin.

Everything about the guy's posture screamed agony, from his bent knees to his bobbing head, his arms weakly wrapped around his middle in what seemed a faint attempt to ease the pain.

Now that he was standing, Keith and Shiro could visibly notice the strain Lance was under, a thick layer of sweat covering his face, the wet clothes sticking to his body and making even goosebumps visible- _ damn, that shirt is too thin- _and his whole body trembling and wobbling uncontrollably.

Lance barely managed to take ten steps toward the bathroom, not too far from there and widely signaled with signs- _ at least he's not so out of it to not be able to notice those- _when he stumbled and fell on all fours in a heap, gagging loudly as he slapped a hand on his mouth.

Keith was on the edge if his seat, "Shiro!", but the man was already up, quickly jogging toward Lance.

The older man knelt down as Lance unwillingly kept trying to force something up, loudly too, and hauled him up to his feet, basically dragging the guy to the bathroom- _ empty, thank God- _as he kept moaning and gagging.

Shiro barely managed to ease Lance back on the floor near the stall's bowl when the younger boy started retching, the liquid sound of vomit hitting the water making the other's gag reflexes activate too, _ remember the training at the academy, don't vomit, Shirogane, don't do it. _

Lance's tired stomach twisted and constricted rapidly, and nothing much seemed to be coming up. It was evident that he was running on empty now, only splotches of bile and small food chunks being spat in the toilet.

During all this, Shiro helplessly crouched beside him, rubbing soothing circles on the boy's spasming back and whispering generic words of reassurance.

His phone buzzed at one point, and he took advantage of the fact that Lance was regaining his breath- muttering something and crying- to look at it.

An unknown number was calling him.

"Hello, this is Shiro"

_ "Huh, hi, it's Hunk, you texted me on Instagram earlier, right?" _

"Oh, yes-"

_ "Is Lance there? Is he alright? Please tell me he's okay!" _

The guy seemed frantic, Shiro noted with a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"He won't talk much, so you should come here as soon as you can. He doesn't look good and I think he needs familiar faces around-"

As if on cue, Lance started throwing up again, violently, whimpering all the way.

_ "Oh my God, Lance, buddy, we're coming- PIDGE, GET THE CAR! What's the hospital's name- PIDGE, HURRY UP!- can you tell me, please?". _

Shiro gave all the coordinates precisely, and when the guy on the phone- Hunk- assured him to be there in less than thirty minutes, he hung up, feeling better than before.

"Hey man, your friends are coming, they'll be here soon," Shiro muttred, squeezing the boy's shoulder gently, "think you're done?".

Lance didn't answer, and the man briefly wondered if he had fallen asleep after throwing up for almost twenty minutes straight.

But his eyes were open, unfocused and blurry.

"Lance, buddy?" 

_ Shit. _

The guy was probably also going into shock.

Shiro shook his head, shaking Lance lightly, "Everything will be alright" he muttered, dragging him up to his feet and taking him back to the chairs, slowly.

"Holy shit, Shiro, he's literally green," Keith gasped as soon as he saw them back, "what's going on? Lance!?"

"I fear he's going into shock or something. I'll talk to the nurse, he can't go on like this".

The man laid Lance on the row of chairs, onto his back but with his face turned to the side, in case he vomited. Then, he quickly getting rid of his own leather jacket and placed it onto Lance's inquietantly still body, "Lance? Come on…"

Keith was restless at this point, as he got up from his chair and set next to Lance, his legs near the boy's head, "And his friends? Where are they?".

"On their way," Shiro said, quickly handing his own phone to Keith, "do me a favour, if they call back and need some info, tell them"

He turned around to go to the frontdesk, then quickly glanced at Keith, "How's your arm?"

The teen scoffed, "Believe it or not, I've been so stressed out by this situation that I actually kind of forgot about the pain".

Shiro smiled tenderly, "That's good".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the discomfort depicted here is based on a real life experience with shitty hospitals, I assure you.  
Hope you liked this! Chapter 2 will be out soon


	2. Chapter 2

Keith anxiously looked at Lance, who’d started shivering violently since Shiro had left to get a nurse. Even from the distance, the boy could see that the tanner’s lips were turning blue, as he shook and tossed, mumbling something incomprehensible under his hitched breath.

“Come on, Shiro...” Keith whispered, looking over his brother, who seemed distressed and upset, visibly (and loudly, too) arguing with the nurse at the front desk.

The boy couldn’t hear every single word, but some- ‘concussion’, ‘blood’, ‘vomit’, ‘pain’, ‘shock’- had been repeated so often that Keith had learnt how to distinguish them from what else was being said.

“Lo siento… P-perdóname..,” Lance muttered, feverish and broken, as his head moved frantically, unconsciously in a faint attempt to find a remotely comfortable position on those plastic chairs, “no- no t’ngo d-dinero conmigo...”.

Keith cursed himself for not taking almost any Spanish class back in high school, too busy ditching. And now, he could understand very, very little of what the poor boy in front of him was saying.

He breathed in, hissing when his arm throbbed in response, and straightened up on the chair, “Uhm, Lance, mi amigo,” he started, absolutely aware of his terrible accent, “M-mañana. Todo bien, okay? Tomorrow everything will be okay... Mañana” he blushed, embarrassed, but quickly shook his head to go back at his task, “Lance, ¿m-me entiendes? Tu amigos- tus amigos? Tus amigos, Hunk and Pidge… Aquí, pronto…” he finished, pointing his index finger down in a faint attempt to represent the word ‘now’, not sure of having even said that right.

“¿H-Hunk y Pidge? Oh… ¿Cuán pronto pueden estar aquí? S-siento que me estoy muriendo...” Lance rasped out with a sob, still lost in his hazed state, but vaguely aware.

“Uh- can you say that in English, buddy..? How do I say that… Uhm... Inglés, p-por favor”

“¿Inglés?”

“Oui- no wait, that’s French! Huh, sí, please”.

Lance moaned, making Keith’s face go redder than his own blood. _ Shit, this guy’s cute... _

“W’s goin’ on..? ‘m tired…”

“Do you know where you are?”

“‘s bright, wanna go home...”

“I know, Lance, I’m sorry… Y-you’ll be okay, I promise! Shiro, my brother over there, remember him? He’s asking for help right now”

“Shiro..?”

“Yes, do you remember him?”.

Lance’s pale face scrunched up in confusion, as dread set in Keith’s stomach. Was Lance brain-damaged? Was it the bloodloss, or whatever happened to his head, or dehydration or-

“Shiro… Yeah… I r’mber him. S-seems like a n’ce guy…” the injured teen slurred, smiling faintly.

Keith sighed in relief, smiling too, “He is, trust me. How are you feeling? Your friends will be here soon, okay?”

“Th’ks… ‘m tired. Wanna go home”

Keith winced sympathetically, swallowing loudly, “Lance-”

They didn’t hear the soft sound of the automatic doors opening, two people rushing in rapidly, their eyes darting around. 

Keith caught the shorter one’s eyes, waving his uninjured hand in the air, “Are you two guys Hunk and Pidge?”

The taller one nodded frantically, “Yes! Have you-”

Keith nodded with his head to the seats facing the other direction, on which Lance was sprawled, still muttering and moaning in evident pain.

“Lance! Buddy, oh gosh!” the shortest one yelled, rushing over and crouching next to the boy, stroking his damp hair gently, “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay, we’re here...”

The tanner boy- who’d stopped running toward Lance, in opposition to the other one- turned to Keith, a soft smile on his face, “I’m Hunk, and that’s Pidge, by the way. We’re Lance’s friends. You must be Shiro..?”

“No, no,” Keith shook his head, “I’m his younger brother, Keith, nice to meet you. Shiro’s over there,” he said, pointing at the frontdesk in the furthest corner of the hall, “he’s been discussing with that nurse for a long time, because Lance is in a lot of pain and they won’t help him”.

Hunk’s dark eyes widened in anger and disbelief, “What? Why!?”

“Because Lance doesn’t have any document on him, they said”.

“But- he’d never leave without it- oh. Oh.”, Hunk’s shoulders sagged, as he exhaled deeply, “I knew it... We shouldn’t have let him go alone!” he yelled, grabbing his hair.

The other person, Pidge, rushed to them, panic hovering over their face, “What’s the matter, Hunk? Oh! I- I’m Pidge, hi”

“Hello, I’m K-”

“Those bastards, the baseball team jerks..! Oh, I should’ve known!” Hunk grunted, his fist tightening.

Keith blinked in confusion, “Uhm, what..?” he muttered, raising one of his thick eyebrows.

Pidge sighed, shaking their head, “Lance, he… He’s been bullied since he was a kid...”

“Oh...”

“Yeah, mainly by the baseball team members. But they’d stopped after one particularly bad attack that happened some months ago: Lance had to be rushed to the hospital with a broken leg and couldn’t practice for weeks, the poor guy. Hunk and I also threatened to call the police and to tell the principal, but… That idiot, Lance never wanted us to. He kept saying that he could handle that...” they stopped, exhaling.

Hunk put a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “But even that particular case wasn’t this bad...” he finished, glancing over his injured friend.

The Japanese boy inhaled sharply, visibly angered by the whole situation.

“Shit, that sucks,” he muttered, “I’m so sorry, he seems like a nice person” _ and also a very cute one _he added mentally.

Hunk nodded smiling, “Oh dude, he totally is… I just wish he knew that too” he said under his breath. “Anyway, I’ll go check on him. Thank you man, thank you so much”.

In that instant, Shiro reached them, his facial features screaming anger, as he stared at the floor, stomping his feet loudly.

“Ugh, these fucking idiot doctors-” he muttered, and then raised his head, “Oh, hello, you must be Hunk and Pidge, correct?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s us. Shiro, right?” Pidge said, readying themselves for a handshake, “Nice to meet you, and thank you for everything you’ve done” they said as the two shook hands.

The man nodded, smiling, “It’s nothing, really… Uhm, do you guys know what happened to him?”

Pidge looked over Hunk, “Go to Lance, I’ll explain”.

Hunk nodded, and after a quick smile, he reached Lance.

“Hey, man,” Hunk said, crouching next to him as Pidge did before, “how are you doing?”

“Hunk! ‘m… ‘t hurts, wanna go home… ‘re is Pidge?”

The taller boy laughed worriedly, “Pidge? O-over there, see? You met them before, when we arrived”.

Lance didn’t seem to convinced, but nodded nonetheless, sending waves of dizziness to his stomach.

“H-Hunk, ‘s it bad?” the hurt boy asked, whimpering.

The other swallowed, never losing his tired smile, “No, don’t worry, it’ll be okay...”. 

He believed so, of course, but Hunk really couldn’t help that hinge of uncertainty to stain his words.

Soon after that, Pidge and Keith, gently accompanied by his brother Shiro, joined the two tanner boys.

“Hey loverboy, how are you doing?” asked the shortest, a gentle smile on their worried face.

Hunk looked over his shoulder, wincing sympathetically as Lance layed quiet, eyes fluttering close. 

_ Poor kid, he must be so tired… _thought Shiro, frowning.

“It was them to take his phone and wallet...”

“A-and m’ jacket..,” Lance pointed out, moaning sadly, “th’t was mamá’s gift, she’d bought it fo’ me...” he sobbed, as his eyes shifted close.

Hunk gently caressed his shoulder, shushing him quietly while he whimpered in his sleep, as Keith looked, feeling helpless, cradling his broken limb.

The oldest cleared his throat, looking at Pidge to avoid disturbing Hunk and startling Lance, “I’m sorry if it sounds inappropriate, but why did the baseball team do this to him? Is there a precise reason?”.

The kid swallowed, raising their eyebrows, “Huh-”

Lance seemed to be coming to, as he cleared his throat, “B-because ‘m bi… ‘nd they dun w’nt gay k-kids ‘round ‘em...” he slurred, sounding in pain but not too annoyed by the matter he stated.

Keith’s heart all but pounded in his chest as he looked at the boy in front of him; he could feel his face heating up, blood going toward the _ wrong _places.

“Keith, man, you good?” Shiro asked, putting a hand on his uninjured shoulder, worry in his eyes.

“I’m- yeah, I’m okay, sorry, I was just thinking” he muttered in response, almost inaudible over Lance whimpering.

Shiro perfectly knew about Keith's sexuality, but the thought of him liking Lance had never crossed his mind; the man, however, was worried that this story could trigger his brother's anxiety, given that he had been bullied too due to being a teenage gay boy.

"Okay, if you say so… How's the arm?"

"Still broken, still throbbing" he replied with a snort.

Pidge looked at them, "Haven't you been given a splint or something yet?"

"Huh, yeah, a nurse put one on me, but it was so badly done and loose that it fell off" the boy replied, shaking his head in disappointment.

Pidge fixed their round glasses, grinning gently, "I can splint it for you, if you want! I have delicate and precise hands" they said, raising their tiny hands to show him the proof.

He looked over Shiro, who shrugged, "Your arm, your choice, bud".

Keith sighed and nodded, "I'd love your help. Anything to ease this pain…"

"Alright, sit down. I'll be super quick and you won't feel a thing".

The Japanese boy obliged as his brother led him to the chair next to the one on which Lance's head rested. Pidge begun working on the splint, and Keith was relieved- and surprised- because he didn't, in fact, feel any pain.

In the meantime, his gaze shifted upon Lance once again. His long and dark eyelashes fluttered as his pupils moved under closed and trembling eyelids. The guy's nose upturned and gracious, just like his thin lips, now quivered in pain and discomfort.

His skin hadn't started regaining any colour, and the dried blood caked in his hair, on the left temple, stood out vividly.

"Where is he from?" Keith asked Hunk, who was now sitting on the floor, caressing Lance's arms.

"Huh? Ah, Lance? He's Cuban," the guy replied, smiling, "why?"

"Nothing, I was just curious… Is his skin usually tanner than this? This pale complexion doesn't look like his own natural one"

"Yeah, he's darker than this. Not all Cubans are, but he definitely has brown skin. Not as much as me, I mean, but still pretty dark. So… Where are you from?"

"Mh, well, my dad was half Japanese, half American, and I don't know about my mom. But I was adopted by Shiro's family, so I actually have two Japanese last names now"

"Oh, I understand," Hunk replied, nodding, "his name's Shiro?"

"Short for Shirogane, my last name" said man cut in, smiling.

Hunk gasped in understandment, "It makes sense! Catchy, short, of impact… 'Shiro', I like it!"

Both Japanese laughed softly, thanking him.

"And where are you two from?" asked Shiro, curious.

"I'm half Italian, half American" said Pidge, still working on the splint.

"And I'm Samoan. I've lived here for almost ten years, thought," the other replied with a sad smile, "I miss it there!"

"I feel you," Shiro replied, exhaling, "I moved here when I was six or seven years old".

"...So, how do you know Lance?" Keith asked, feeling awkward, "were you his classmates?"

"Huh, yeah, we had classes together back in High School," Pidge replied, "but we've been friends since grade six, I think". They stepped away from Keith, nodding, "Okay, your arm should be secured now. How does it feel? Too tight?" they asked said boy.

"Huh," he took an instant to ascertain his state, "it feels okay, doesn't hurt as much as before… Thank you, Pidge" Keith smiled, and they nodded grinning.

"So, you were talking about how you know each other?"

"Oh, yeah, that's true," Hunk cut in, "well, we all lived pretty close to each other and had- well, we still have interests in common!"

"Like what?" asked Shiro, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhm, our age, first of all. We're all 19" he smiled.

"Ah, Keith here too!" the oldest noted, "I'm almost 26"

"You look way younger!" Pidge noted.

"Haha, thank you, I hear that a lot. So, what else do you guys have in common?"

"Ah, yeah… D&D, video games, space and an undying love for pizza. Nerd stuff and food, basically" the Samoan replied with a snort, scratching his neck.

"Oh really I- I didn't think Lance was the nerd type… No offense! There's nothing wrong with it! I'm somewhat of a space nerd myself" Shiro laughed, as Keith nodded too, "More like an absolute nerd" he scoffed, ironically.

"Well, while you make fun of me, I shall go talk to the nurses again, your jerk-ness" Shiro sighed, a fake angered and offended frown over his eyes.

Pidge and Hunk laughed as he left, laughing too, and the shortest spoke up, "Well, Lance is also one of the cool kids, y'know, with the ladies and all. Too bad he isn't interested in them at the moment, apparently… But anyway, he is kinda popular among our acquaintances, not like Hunk and I here" they laughed bitterly.

"I think you two are cool as well!" Keith cut in, enthusiastically, regretting that burst of emphasis as the others stared awkwardly.

"I-I mean, being interested in games and space is not a bad thing, right? It's pretty awesome" he finished, blushing hard.

"...Wow, thanks man" a shocked and surprised Hunk replied, smiling sincerely.

"Yeah, hearing a thing like this from one of the cool kids is… Nice" the other added.

"I'm not… Like, one of the cool kids… I get bullied a lot, actually. Not physically, but y'know… Avoided"

"O-oh, sorry about that, man. Those people don't know shit," Pidge sighed, "you're cool, no matter what they say".

Lance stirred, startling them all, as his blue eyes fluttered open once again, eyebrows knitted in pain and to block out the blinding light of the corridor, "'s goin' on?"

"Ah, you're awake," Hunk smiled gently "we were just chatting"

"How do you feel?" Keith asked, hoping that the red on his face could pass unnoticed.

The Cuban squinted his eyes, moaning, "Tired… 'nd wanna go home…".

_ Oh, not again… _

"We know, baby, we know," Pidge said, a sympathetic frown on their face, "just hang on a bit longer, alright? It'll be okay, we'll stay here all the time with you" they finished.

The boy shivered in response, shutting his eyes closed, "P-por favor, quiero a mi… A mi mamá…" he muttered, as tiny tears spilled from his eyelids, "¿Dónde está mamá? Mamà…".

Hunk shushed him gently, caressing his hair- carefully avoiding his wound- gently and whispering kind words.

"So… you understand Spanish?" Keith asked.

"Huh, only easy stuff. Sometimes when he's mad he starts blasting words in full-blown Spanish and I get, like, one word out of ten" he laughed.

"He asked for his mom now," Pidge cut in, "Neo Latin languages buddies understand each other sometimes," they smiled, "which is good because otherwise I wouldn't get anything he says in Spanish, I'm generally bad at learning new languages!".

Keith snickered amused, nodding, "Same… I know, like, three sentences in Japanese despite my origins. It's kinda sad but, y'know, nothing I can do about it".

As if on cue, Shiro came back that instant, drying his wet hands on the back of his pants, "How's it going, guys?"

"Lance's awake," Keith replied, nodding to the muttering boy, "how long is this gonna take?"

Shiro's shoulders sagged, "The nurses here are all too busy, so they are now recruiting someone that can look after you from the nearest hospital. The problem is that we're caught in the middle of a snowstorm, this place is not easy to reach" he finished, sighing sadly.

"Oh, alright…".

Lance groaned loudly, sitting up and almost headbutting Keith, "voy a vomitar-" he groaned, and promptly puked on his on legs, on which Shiro's leather jacket still rested.

Hunk immediately removed it and got Lance up to his feet, "Bathroom, now!" he yelled, dragging Lance away. Pidge shot up, but their friend quickly stopped them, "Stay here in case the nurses arrive!"

"Alright, take care of Lance!" they replied, and sat down again.

"...This is unbelievable," Shiro muttered angrily, "that kid is at serious risk and they're leaving him here like this!" 

"Not their fault, they don't have personnel and the weather is crappy," Pidge sighed, "but yeah, this sucks. For you too," they said, looking at Keith, "I can see the wrinkles on your eyebrows, you're in a lot of pain"

"I- no, I'm fine"

"Keith, is it true? You're in pain?"

"Yes, I mean, no, it's- ugh, it's fine, Shiro. I can handle that…" he exhaled, exasperated, "it's nothing compared to what Lance is going through".

But Shiro looked at him from head to toe: he had started to tremble, exhausted after a long day and basically starved, and his normally pale complexion had a sick tint to it.

"Keith! I swear, this behaviour is going to be a problem for you," his brother replied, shaking his head, "why didn't you say anything before?"

"It didn't matter, and…"

"And?" Pidge cut in, curious.

"...And if a nurse arrives, I want them to take care of Lance first" he finished, blushing hard, too obvious to hide.

Shiro's eyes softened, understanding and glad, "Keith…"

"...He's single, you know?" the third one said, fixing their glasses with a grin.

Keith all but choked on his saliva, coughing loudly, "W-why would you tell me that!? I don't-"

"Oh, I thought you knew it was obvious already"

"...Is it?"

"Yeah man, pretty much. It's okay though, and I'm sorry I embarrassed you, it wasn't my intention!" they said.

"N-no, it's fine. I'm openly out, so it doesn't bother me that much. I was just..," he shrugged, "surprised, I guess".

About half a hour passed with them chatting, one of them checking on Lance and Hunk every five minutes. 

No changes yet.

After a while, they collectively heard the swooshing sound of the automatic doors opening; five people rushed in, wearing white coats already, and heading for the frontdesk.

"Oh, thank God" Shiro yelled, relieved, "I will go get Hunk and Lance, okay? Please stay here with Keith" the man asked Pidge, as they nodded in response and he left in a hurry.

After ten minutes at most, Lance had been dragged to the waiting room again, as he shivered uncontrollably and muttered nonsense, held upright by Hunk's strong arms and fussed over by Pidge, who held his hands reassuringly.

A woman in her forties stepped forward, pushing an empty wheelchair, a clipboard under her armpit, "Hello, I'm sorry for the delay, we had some problems, as you may have noticed," she said, sounding seriously mortified, and then she looked at Keith and at his splint, "you must be Keith, right? And that's your brother..," she looked at the clipboard, "Mr Shirogane?"

"Just Shiro, please" he replied with a smile.

She smiled tenderly, "Alright guys, let's get down to business, shall we? Let's fix that arm of yours, sweetie" she said, "hop on! And Shiro, please, push this for me"

"W-wait," Keith stuttered, "what about him?" he nodded at Lance.

"Oh, he'll be taken care of in a second, sweetie. The other nurses and doctors over there are are all here for him, they just need to take care of a couple of things," she said, sympathetically, placing a hand on Keith's uninjured shoulder, "don't worry, now let's go".

Shiro took hold of the chair, as Keith looked at Lance again, then shifting his gaze to his friends, "Take care of him, please" he said, blushing lightly.

"Will do, man" Hunk replied softly. 

"And you take care of yourself too!" Pidge added.

With that, Keith sat on the wheelchair, and got rolled away.

-

The following morning- which was only three hours later, actually- Keith got dismissed. His arm was broken, but didn't need surgery, only a cast that he would have had to keep for a month. The first thing he did was spending almost 10$ at the vending machines, as his stomach was growling loudly and made him feel lightheaded.

Two bag of chips, a mini chocolate bar, three coffees and a brioche later, his stomach had finally settled, and Shiro led him to those uncomfortable chairs back again to rest a while before leaving.

"...Do you think I should go see Lance?" he asked to his brother, nonchalantly.

"If you want to, I don't see why not," the other replied, smiling, "I'm sure he'd be glad to see you" 

-

Keith stopped outside Lance's room, hearing soft laughter coming from the inside.

"M-maybe I shouldn't interrupt…"

"Keith, it's now or never, you know? Come on".

The younger Japanese sighed, and faintly knocked on the door.

_ "Come in" _ an unfamiliar voice spoke from behind the door.

He looked bad at Shiro, who nodded convinced, "Let's go".

Keith slowly opened the door, and breath almost got knocked out of his lungs at the sight: Lance was sitting upright, propped against a pile of pillows, as a warm smile rested on his lips. His head had been bandaged carefully, and the dried blood had been cleaned from his face, which had regained some color as well. His long hands rested on his lap, an IV inserted in the right one. Lance also wasn't shaking as much anymore.

Pidge and Hunk sat at his sides, waving to the two guests.

Shiro pushed his brother forward, gently, "Hello guys, hope we're not disturbing you!"

"Oh, not at all," Pidge smiled, "I see that Keith's doing better!"

"I-I am, thank you" he muttered, not raising his gaze, too embarrassed.

"Oh, so you two are Keith and Shiro," Lance said gasping, "I didn't remember your faces, but I remember almost everything else!" he smiled, "Thank you so much. A-and forgive me, I must've been a real nuisance… Oh, oh gosh, also, forgive me, I totally ruined your jacket, Mr Shirogane! I will repay for it, once I get my wallet back, I promise" he hurried, playing with the thin sheet that covered him nervously.

"Hey, it's okay, man, there's no need to, don't worry! Also, Shiro is just fine" the older Japanese replied, putting a hand on Keith's shoulder, startling him, "We didn't come here for that. It's that Keith here really wanted to know how you were doing, so we thought to check it out ourselves".

The boy raised his eyes, feeling beyond betrayed, "Y-yeah, I hope that you're doing better. We were worried" he muttered, only slightly raising his gaze and blushing.

"Wow! Thanks, guys..." Lance replied, sincerely touched, "I appreciate that a lot. I'm... I'm actually feeling good now. My head doesn't hurt that much, and I haven't felt sick in almost a hour and a half, and that's progress"

"Only four hours and a half to go, and then you'll be free" Hunk snorted.

"Yeah, thank God! But still, let me know if there is anything I can do to repay you!" he finished, apologizing once again for the mess he'd made earlier, "Oh, Keith, I hope you're doing good too, because Hunk told me about your arm and it seemed to hurt a lot"

"Oh, it was nothing too serious anyway..." Keith said, glancing at the cast.

Pidge and Hunk exchanged quick looks, a spark of evil in them.

"Hey huh, since Keith has been so kind to come here, Hunk and I will take a break" the shortest said, grinning evidently.

That said, the two left, dragging Shiro away much to his utter confusion.

Keith tried to protest, but found that he had no words. _ ...shit. _

After a few moments of silence, the Japanese cleared his throat and spoke up,

"So… It was bullies to do this?" 

_ Great start, Kogane, really fucking great. _

"Yeah," Lance replied sighing, "I'm used to this, it's okay".

Keith raised an eyebrow, "No, it's not okay. Listen, I- I don't want to get in your business, man, but what they did to you was not okay. You know that, right?" 

"Uh?"

"Bullying someone for… For that reason is pretty illegal, just sayin'. And if to that, you add the fact that you almost died for what they did-".

Lance shrugged, "But I didn't die"

"Yeah, but you could have!" Keith yelled, followed by utter silence.

Unsaid words lingered in the air, and the brunette didn't know if it was the heat of the moment, or fear, maybe panic or something else, but his legs were now shaking.

"You could have died, Lance. I know we don't know each other, but… This is serious. Your friends told me that this crap has been going on for years now. And… And you haven't even told the police"

"...What do you even know about it?" Lance asked, his voice shaky, "Look, I'm thankful and glad you and your brother helped me out, but honestly, what do you know about all of this?".

Keith studied his tone and face: he didn't look nor sound angry, more like, defeated, upset and tired. He swallowed the lump in his throat, and breathed through his nose.

"Because I'm gay too"

"...What?"

"I said I'm gay. When I was younger, I... I got bullied and avoided for liking boys. But as soon as a jerk dared to even step closer to me, I broke his nose on the spot," he said, fists tight, "I'm not saying you have to hit the bullies, 'cause that would be wrong too. But you can't let them hit you either, Lance. You have, no, you must tell the cops and whoever is in charge of those idiots. Your life is at stake, and I-" he blushed, "and your friends won't let something like this happen again. So you either call the cops, or they will. With all of my support, honestly, because you need to get your shit together".

Another moment of silence followed.

Lance's grip on the sheet tightened, as tears slipped from his eyes, "Keith…".

"...I'm sorry, that sounded so rude..!", he gasped, "I don't know why I said that," the Japanese yelled, panicking, "don't cry, please, I- I didn't mean to say it, I'm so sorry!"

_ Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! _

The Cuban shook his head, "N-no, don't apologize. You are right, I know that. You guys are all right when you say I should tell the authorities about it. I just… It's complicated"

"...You have to do it only if you want to. Telling you to do it by force was wrong, forgive me. I… I don't know what has gotten into me, honestly. We don't even know each other, I shouldn't have dared" he shrugged, cursing under his breath.

Keith was so embarrassed now. Why was he being like this? For a complete stranger? Just a random guy met in a hospital, that's who Lance was. 

_ ...Right? _

"...Yeah," Lance sighed, sounding unhappy but not surprised either, "you're right. It's okay though, I get it, you had good intentions. Thanks for that, man" he finished, offering a grim smile.

Keith sighed too, loudly, as he lowered his gaze.

Shiro, Pidge and Hunk arrived again, sipping sodas and chatting loudly and happily.

"Ah, sorry, that took longer than expected" Hunk apologized, obviously faking.

Pidge laughed nervously, "Yeah, sorry guys. Any news?"

"...No?" Lance replied, shrugging, as Keith stood in silence.

The faces of the newly arrived collectively fell, as they sighed, not managing to hide the disillusion.

"Alright. Hey, Keith," Shiro called, "we should get going, you need to sleep, buddy"

"Oh yeah, Lance too has a visit in less than a hour, he should catch some Zs, Doctor's orders" Pidge said, fixing their glasses, "so, I guess it's a goodbye?".

Shiro nodded, "Yeah. I wish you all good things, and a speedy recovery for you, Lance"

"Thank you so much" the boy replied, smiling, "Goodbye Shiro, goodbye Keith…" he said, a tad of unnoticed sadness in his eyes.

"Bye" he muttered, blushing again.

Hunk and Pidge waved too, a sad grin on their faces.

As soon as Shiro stepped out of the door, Keith slowly turned toward Lance, who looked at him curiously.

"Hey uhm, now that I think of it, there is something you could do for me..."

"Huh, sure" the Cuban muttered, surprised but willing to do anything, really.

Keith blushed violently, unable to hide it,

"Maybe you could… Give me your number? A-and hang out, one of these days, if you want..?" he stuttered, his voice cracking as he scratched his neck.

Pidge and Hunk were almost in tears now, unable to contain their excitement and amusement in seeing those two trying to flirt, adorably clumsy and awkward. Shiro too, from outside the door, grinned entertained and proud.

Lance's blue eyes sparkled with joy and commotion, as his tan cheeks tinged in soft pink,

"Yeah, I'd love to"

** _fin._ **

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Self projecting my utter and undying love for foreign languages here (Keith, the key to get better is PRACTICING!).  
-  
That's it! Finally, this draft has been written decently and published; I can now rest in peace.  
Also, I'm laughing so hard because it's the 2nd time I write that Lance doesn't have his phone and wallet for any other reason (check out my "bonded for life"- especially you, fellow Klancers- to get what I mean). Sorry Lancey-Lance, mama loves ya, kiddo!  
I’m planning on writing some nsfw Klance stuff so yeah, if you’re interested, check my profile every now and then.  
Thanks for the kudos and the reviews, they mean a lot to me!  
Bye, until next time!

**Author's Note:**

> Going through my old drafts, I found this and I couldn't leave it there.  
If you want to, check out my other works too and come say hi on my tumblr @theforgottendaydreamer (one day i'll find out how to put the link, but for the moment it'll have to do…).  
Let me know what you think of this, and leave kudos/comments, as constructive criticism is what I cherish the most.  
Thanks, see you soon!


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